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M.K. Joseph
by George J. Dance Michael Kennedy Joseph (1914-1981) was a New Zealand poet, novelist, and academic, considered "one of the most important writers" of the period 1950-1980.Joseph, M.K. (Michael Kennedy), Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature (edited by Roger Robinson & Nelson Wattie), Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1998, 274. New Zealand Book Council, Web, Feb. 2, 2014. Life Youth and education Joseph was born in Chingford, Essex (near London), England, to a middle-class Catholic family, a month before the outbreak of World War I. As an adult he retained "sharp but disconnected" memories of wartime London. After the war his family lived in France and Belgium, where he learned to speak and write English and French simultaneously. In 1924 the family moved to New Zealand, where Joseph attended Tauranga District High School, Te Puke High School, and Sacred Heart College in Auckland. Afterwards he studied English at Auckland University, where he received a B.A. and an M.A. in 1934. After graduation, Joseph worked as a junior lecturer at Auckland for 2 years, before going to Merton College, Oxford. Career Joseph graduated from Oxford at the beginning of World War II, and enlisted in the Royal Artillery and an Air Observation unit, serving in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Joseph returned to New Zealand in 1946, and rejoined Auckland University as a lecturer. During the next few years he also began publishing poetry in the Yearbook of the Arts. His debut collection, Imaginary Islands, was self-published in 1950.M.K. Joseph (1914-1981), The Poetry Archive. Web, Feb. 2, 2014. In 1951 he began "writing a series of sketches recording impressions of ordinary life in wartime Britain, France and Germany," which became his debut novel, I'll Soldier No More (published in 1958). In 1970 Joseph was promoted to professor at Auckland. 1976 saw the publication of what is perhaps his best-known novel, A Soldier's Tale. Publications Poetry *''Imaginary Islands''. Auckland: Whitcomb & Tombes, 1950. *''The Living Countries: Poems''. Hamilton, NZ: Paul's Book Arcade, 1959. *''A Selection of Poetry'' (by M.K. Joseph, Alan Howie, & Barry Mitcalfe). Wellington: Teachers' College, 1965. *''Inscription on a Paper Dart: Selected poems, 1945-1972''. Auckland: Auckland University Press / Wellington: Oxford University Press, 1974. Novels *''I'll Soldier No More''. London: Gollancz, 1958. *''A Pound of Saffron: London: Gollancz, 1962.'' *''The Hole in the Zero''. Auckland: Blackwood & Janet Paul, 1967; London: Victor Gollancz, 1967; New York: E.P. Dutton, 1968. *''A Soldier's Tale''. Auckland & London: Collins, 1976. *''The Time of Achamoth''. Auckland & London: Collins, 1977. *''Kaspar's Journey''. Auckland: Brick Row / Hallard Press, 1988. Non-fiction *''William Falconer''. Auckland: Auckland University College, 1950; Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1950. *''Charles Adlers: A biographical note''. Auckland: Auckland University College, 1953.M.K. Joseph, New Zealand Literature File. Web, Feb. 2, 2014. *''The New Zealand Short Story''. Wellington: School Publications Branch, Dept. of Education, 1956. *''Byron, the Poet''. London: Gollancz, 1964. Edited *Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The modern Prometheus. London, New York, & Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1969. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = M.K. Joseph, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 2, 2014. See also *List of New Zealand poets References External links ;Poems *"Drunken Gunners" *"Girl, Boy, Flower, Bicycle" ;Prose *"Mammal" ;Audio / video *M.K. Joseph (1914-1981) at The Poetry Archive *Joseph, M.K at Aotearoa New Zealand Poetry Sound Archive ;Books *M.K. Joseph in the New Zealand Literature File ;About *Joseph, M.K. (Michael Kennedy) at the New Zealand Book Council *[http://anzlitlovers.com/2012/02/07/a-soldiers-tale-by-m-k-joseph/ A Soldier's Tale by M.K. Joseph] at ANZ LitLovers LitBlog. Category:1914 births Category:1981 deaths Category:English poets Category:English novelists Category:English science fiction writers Category:New Zealand poets Category:New Zealand novelists Category:New Zealand science fiction writers Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:New Zealand academics